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"                      <p class=\"imgtitle\">Cates</p>                                <p class=\"imgtitle\">McGlynn</p>           The Simmons law firm of Alton and nine of its asbestos attorneys recently contributed $45,000 to Judy Cates, Democratic candidate for the Fifth District Appellate Court.<br /><br />Attorneys John Simmons, Michael Angelides, John Barnerd, Perry Browder and Ted Gianaris each contributed $5,000 to Cates on Sept. 10. Attorneys Nicholas Angelides, Derek Brandt, Randy Cohn and Brian Cooke  each contributed $2,500. The firm donated $10,000 on the same day.<br /><br />On Sept. 5, personal injury attorneys John Brewster, Linda Brame, Paul Schafer and Thomas Crosby of the Winters, Brewster, Crosby & Schafer firm in Marion each contributed $1,000 to Cates.<br /><br />The personal injury firm Howerton, Dorris & Stone of Marion contributed $5,000 to Catres on Sept. 5.<br /><br />According to the latest figures from the Illinois State Board of Elections website, Cates has raised $54,000 since Labor Day.<br /><br />Her Republican challenger, St. Clair County Circuit Judge Stephen McGlynn, has raised $11,000 since Labor Day.<br /><br />On Sept. 6, McGlynn received a $10,000 contribution from the Illinois State Medical Society Political Action Committee.<br /><br />He also received $1,000 from Foresight Energy Services on Sept. 11.<br /><br />The last time there was a contested race in the Fifth District - 2006 - candidates spent close to $3 million.<br /><br />In that election, McGlynn lost the expensive race to Democrat Bruce Stewart, a former Saline County circuit judge. <br /><br />Stewart's support was strong in counties outside the Metro-East, in a district that includes the state's 37 southernmost counties.<br /><br />Cates also has had a previous run for the appellate court.<br /><br />In spite of outspending her opponent James Wexstten almost two to one, she lost a 2008 primary race by a margin of 53-47. Wexstten, of Mount Vernon, had received the endorsement of the St. Clair County Democratic organization. <br /><br />Cates, a former president of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, funded her primary campaign, in large part, with more than $800,000 in personal loans or contributions from her law firm. <br /><br />Wexstten, who ran unopposed in the general election, raised approximately $500,000 in the primary. <br />"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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